Diaz and Top Rank Dating?

Tonight from the Laredo Energy Center in Laredo, Texas,Juan Diazmakes the second start of his “new” career. He faces Adailton DeJesus on a card promoted by Top Rank. But for now, the “Baby Bull” is not associated with them. He’s still currently unattached.

“It’s a one-off; I have not signed an agreement with Top Rank,” clarified Diaz.

But soon, he will be making a decision. Back in April, as he made his comeback to the ring against Pipino Cuevas Jr., he was on a Golden Boy Promotions event.

He states, “Moving forward, I know that I will have to get with a top-level promoter and right now, that is either Top Rank or Golden Boy. This year, I want to finish off as a free agent, taking one more fight, one more fight like the one we’re going to take on Saturday and then by the end of the year, signing with a top-notch promoter because they’re the ones that have all the power to help me become champion again. So therefore, I will do so at the time.”

Right now, Diaz is on a date with Top Rank.

To this, Carl Moretti, Vice President of Boxing Operations for Top Rank, says, “It’s a little more than dating; I’ve known him since he turned pro, so it’s not like I just went onMatch.com.” Moretti was the head matchmaker for Main Events, where Diaz began his professional career and won his first world title. “I’ve known him and Brian [Caldwell, Diaz’s strength and conditioning coach] a long time and we had a great conversation in Dallas and this is the first, we hope, of a series of fights.”

Moretti met with Diaz back in mid-June when Top Rank went to Dallas, where they had Mikey Garcia facing Juan Manuel Lopez. What makes Diaz attractive to both Top Rank and Golden Boy is that given his name, his past ability to draw and his style, he’s still very useful.

"He’s definitely young at 29, even though he’s been around. He turned pro so young," Moretti points out."But I think there’s plenty left in the tank and he still makes ’35 comfortably. So I think with this fight, maybe one more, he’s ready for real prime time in 2014.”

Being a veteran of the sport and a businessman outside of it, Diaz understands the reality that exists in boxing today: if you sign with either Top Rank or Golden Boy, it means you’re automatically put in the running for certain bouts and disqualifies you from others.

“Absolutely,” he says, laughing, “I know that; I know that’s a reality but I believe that if I stay a free agent it’s going to be a lot harder. I’m going to be going to these territories as the opponent and if I beat the fighter, for example, you have the lightweight division - you have some guys that are Top Rank, some guys that are Golden Boy - and if I beat them, [those companies are] going to want options.

“Either way, I sign with them now or I’m signing with them later. So that’s the way it’s going to work.”

It’s pretty simple; either Diaz faces the likes of Terence Crawford or Omar Figueroa but not both.

“It’s going to come down to who has the better fights and who’s going to provide the better schedule for me,” says Diaz.

GOLDEN NOTES

Richard Schaefer, Golden Boy Promotions CEO, told Maxboxing on Friday afternoon that he is “diligently working on” a November 9th bout between Marcos Maidana and Adrien Broner and talking to both camps (which basically means speaking to Al Haymon). However, he says this would only be one facet of a blockbuster pay-per-view lineup.

“As I like to do it, I like to put on a great event on November the 9th, so I’m not just working on that fight but I’m working on other fights as well - which I’d rather not discuss at this point. But I can tell you this much,” teased Schaefer. “If I could pull that off, Steve Kim, who likes action fights, likes exciting fights, is going to be a happy camper.”

OK, guilty as charged but seriously, am I the only one who like an ol’ fashioned donnybrook?

“You’re not the only one,” replied Schaefer, “but you’re sort like the spokesperson of a much larger group of fight fans and sports fans who I think rediscovered the sport of boxing because of some of these awesome fights which took place this year. And that’s what we like to see as well.”

As for the possibility of Dubai hosting a fight this year, Schaefer says, “It’s clear that they want to do boxing and they want to do it with Golden Boy.” It just may not happen on December 7th, when/if Devon Alexander defends his IBF welterweight title versus Amir Khan.

WEEKEND FLURRIES

Here’s the latest on Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. vs. Brian Vera: http://www.maxboxing.com/news/other-boxing-news/refunds-and-rescheduling-for-chavez-jr...There are also boxing cards on HBO and Fox Deportes tonight (check your local listings)...I’m picking Sergey Kovalev and Daniel Geale to come out victorious...“Master Chef” has been incredibly competitive this season...Clippers announcer Ralph Lawler is planning to retire after this upcoming season? Say it ain’t so!...Drew Brees looks as sharp as a razor in the pre-season...I can be reached at k9kim@yahoo.com and I tweet at www.twitter.com/stevemaxboxing. We also have a Facebook fan page at www.facebook.com/MaxBoxing, where you can discuss our content with Maxboxing readers as well as chime in via our fully interactive article comments sections.